New Ulm weekly review., 1887-08-31

fuse it. Is is q large sum hree thou
sand francs, and, as If he were con-
vinced that no one could refuse such
g price, he put the stone once more
among his own treasures and again
turned round for his check book.
3Thunderp exclaimed the Yankee:
what do you take me for? tell YOU
Ican't and / won't sell the ring. 1T
was as good as sold to this British
gentleman last night, and it isn't
mine to sell any more. Give me the
ring.
$50 saying the American took the
ring rather sharply from the jewelers.
hand and placed it on his finger. The
.Frenchman next made me an offer for
the trinket; but as had not bought
1t for myself, Of course / could not
sell it, and we left the shop.
My mind was clear now as to the
prudence Of giving ESQ for the dia.
mond. had heard the best jeweler
in the town offer 5000 frances or
f12O for it.
"sWell, / must say you have acted
most honorably, said [ TO the
Amerlcan, Illl when we rea ched the
street. After ali, a bargain
can't be all on one side, and I
had never promised to buy the ring,
so you had perfect legal right to sell.
1T to the Frenchman.'
You needn't say no more,
stranger, said the Yankee, as if he were
tired OF the subject. you can hev the
stone now. if you choose, at the price
we fixed on last night and lie held
the ring out to me.
But | had to get my letter of cred
it cashed, and I agreed to meet the
American in the billiard room in an
hours's time and conclude the tran
saction.
s'No one was in the billiard room
when ! entered it (for it was still ear
" in the day. except the American,
who was standing by the empty fire.
place. The transfer did not occupy
more than five seconds, and
the Yankee immediately proposed
drinks. These being discussed, we
separated, and saw no more Of my
friend from the States that day.
''That evening after dinner had
pened to be sitting not far from the
fireplace in the billiard.room, when I
noticed q small round object lying
just inside the marble fender. Curious
to know what it was Ileft my seat
and picked it up. 1t was jewelers.
ring case-not an uncommon article,
certainly, yet hardly the sort Of thing
one often sees on the floor OF a bill
liard-room.
"Suddenly I remembered that the
American had been standing close to
the spot where / found it, when, ear.
lier in the day, I had exchanged my
1000 francs worth OF notes for his
diamond. An uncomfortable feel
ing crossed my mind. What did he
want with a ring case? He had
been wearing the ring he sold to me.
He might have kept a case for it, Of
course and might have thrown it
away when he parted with the ring;
yet that seemed an unusual sor, of a.
thing for a man to do.
II opened the case. The makers
name was inscribed in gilt letters in
side the lid, and the address givenwas
Paris. Paris!' said to myself. He
said the ring had been bought in Bra
zil. There was no real ground for
suspicion, yet was uneasy. I went
upstairs and took out the ring. The
pattern-you see it is a peculiar one
I renem bered we'll. Somehow I
Judged, or fancied, that the diamond
did not shine as brightly as it had
done the night before.
''Next morning / took the ring to q
second jeweler and asked him his
opinion as to it's value. He exam
ined the diamond carefully and laid it
down on the glass case before him
with one contemptuous word:
"'Pastep
"'Paste!' Iechoed. 'Impossible!'
ss:Certainly s. paste, and a very good
imitation he replied, turning away.
"My heart sank within me. Eighty
pounds was a sum could i'll afford to
loose. It meant a summary end to
my holidays, not to speak of embar-
rassments that would last some time.
with faint hope that the second
expert had been mistaken, I took the
ring to the jeweler who had offered the
American 3. 900 francs for it.
''He seemed pleased to see me, but
as soon as he glanced at the ring his
face changed.
.sThis is not the same ring you
showed me yesterday he said in a
tone that made it plain that he
thought I meant to cheat him. 'At
least he added, it is not the same
stone. This is not a stone at all; it is
paste.
so have been told.' I said sad
". Are you sure the jewel I showed
you yesterday was a genuine dia-
mond?'
2. 4 am certain att he answered.
t'The honorable conduct (as had
thought it, Of the stranger in refusing
to sell to the ieweler was uow intelli-
gible. The jeweler meant to keep the
real stone. 1t was not difficult to see
now the fraud had been managed.
The swindler had had two rings made
exactly alike Of a striking and pecu-
liar pattern. In one OF them he had
placed genuine and very fine dia-
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